It’s been another interesting year for TV Ad Music, a year in which the website had well over 2 million hits. Thanks to everyone who visited and used the site. We have lots of exciting new features lined up for 2010, and we hope you’ll continue to find the site useful.

Now, as is traditional round these parts, here in reverse order is our annual list of the top ten most-requested ads in 2009:

#10
Advert: HALIFAX – HUMAN PYRAMID
Music: BORN RUFFIANS – LITTLE GARÇON

This track is from the CD ‘Red, Yellow & Blue’. Born Ruffians also provided the music for one of the most popular ads of 2008 – their song ‘Hummingbird’ soundtracked the Orange Pay As You Go Animals advert.

#9
Advert: JOHN LEWIS – REMEMBER HOW CHRISTMAS USED TO FEEL?
Music: TAKEN BY TREES – SWEET CHILD O’ MINE

This ad only appeared in November, but became the most popular Christmas ad of 2009, featuring a unique Guns N’ Roses cover performed by Taken By Trees.

#8
Advert: KELLOGG’S SPECIAL K – SHAPE UP FOR SUMMER
Music: LAURA IZIBOR – SHINE

Irish singer Laura Izibor’s Shine proved to be one of the TV Ad Music hits of the summer.

#7
Advert: VIRGIN MEDIA TV – BACKLOT
Music: SLOW MOVING MILLIE – BEASTS

This stunning ad featured a song by up and coming artist Slow Moving Millie. Read our exclusive interview with Slow Moving Millie here.

#6
Advert: VIRGIN MEDIA / MOBILE – FANTASTIC JOURNEY SMARTPHONE
Music: MAZZY STAR – INTO DUST

A second entry in this list for Virgin, featuring the music of Mazzy Star, a fondly-remembered early-90s duo comprising of guitarist David Roback and vocalist Hope Sandoval. Into Dust is from the 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See. Another popular Virgin ad in 2009 was the Virgin Broadband Powerful Stuff ad. But even more popular was…

#5
Advert: VIRGIN ATLANTIC – 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Music: FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD – RELAX (NEW YORK MIX)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the miners’ strike, chunky mobile phones, Our Price, Wimpy, Rubik’s Cubes, casual chauvanism – it can only be 1984! This ad celebrated 25 years of Virgin Atlantic being ‘red hot’.

#4
Advert: LG ARENA KM900 – DANCING BABY
Music: JAY KID – BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE

Want to create a popular ad? Get yourself a dancing baby. Simple, daft, cute, and memorable. The track is Jay Kid’s version of the Jackson 5 classic.

#3
Advert: TALKTALK – BRIGHTER PHONE & BROADBAND
Music: THE BOX TOPS – NEON RAINBOW

This ad’s popularity was boosted by the fact that TalkTalk sponsored the biggest TV show of the year, The X Factor. The Box Tops were a 60s Memphis blue-eyed soul group led by Alex Chilton, later of Big Star. Neon Rainbow was a 1967 hit in the US, but failed to trouble the UK charts.

#2
Advert: TOYOTA – TODAY TOMORROW
Music: THE FREE DESIGN – LOVE YOU

This eyecatching ad sees four different Toyota designs unveiled via a neat cover-lifting effect. The memorable acapella track is from influential 60s New York band The Free Design.

#1
Advert: CADBURY’S DAIRY MILK – EYEBROW DANCE
Music: FREESTYLE – DON’T STOP THE ROCK

It can’t be too much of a surprise that this massively popular ad top the chart for 2009. Following the gorilla playing drums and the airport trucks race, Cadbury’s and ad agency Fallon bring us another much-talked about spot from ‘A Glass and a Half Full Productions’. The music used in the ad is Don’t Stop The Rock by Freestyle, which is an old electro track from around 1986.

We’re pleased to present the very first TV Ad Music Spotify Playlist, a compilation of the 20 hottest and most popular songs from current television commercials, as listed below. To listen to the playlist, in full and for free, just make sure you have Spotify installed on your computer and click on the link below:

TV Ad Music Spotify Playlist – Autumn 2009

Please let us know what you think of the playlist in the comments section. If you like it we may make Spotify playlists a regular feature.

The full playlist track listing is: (Click on the links to watch the ads)

Don’t Stop The Rock – Freestyle (Cadbury’s Eyebrows)
Neon Rainbow – The Box Tops (TalkTalk Neon)
Shine – Laura Izibor (Special K)
Can’t Seem To Make You Mine – The Seeds (Lynx Bullet)
Come On Train (Ian Parton Remix) – Don Thomas (Visa Flow)
Mr Pitiful – Matt Costa (iPhone Copy & Paste)
You, Me and the Bourgeoisie – The Submarines (iPhone Apps)
Bourgeois Shangri-La – Miss Li (iPod Nano 5G Videocam)
Singin’ In The Rain – Nora Arnezeder and Feloche (Idylle by Guerlain)
I’m Not Invisible – The Tease feat Megan Wyler (Ford Ka)
If I Ruled The World – Dionne Warwick (Vodafone)
Heart of Glass – Blondie (Next Directory)
Relax (New York Mix) – Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Virgin Atlantic)
Fascination – Alphabeat (Diet Coke)
Sense – The Lightning Seeds (BMW)
Dominos – The Big Pink (Xbox 360 Sky Player)
Trash – The Whip (Coors Light)
I Put A Spell On You – Nina Simone (Georgio Armani)
Honky Tonk (Part 1) – Bill Doggett (Prada)
All I Want Is You – Barry Polisar (National Lottery Streakers)

[UPDATE 22/02/10: Please note that this Spotify playlist is no longer available.]

Even if you’ve not yet heard of Slow Moving Millie, chances are you’ve heard her song Beasts, released as a download today and featured on the popular Virgin Media TV Backlot advert. We spoke to ‘Millie’ to find out more about her:

Slow Moving Millie doesn’t seem keen to reveal her real name (it’s Amelia Warner) but she does tell us she’s 27 years old, and was born in Liverpool, but has lived in London “since I was wee”. She’s also an actress, has starred in movies such as Aeon Flux, Stoned and The Echo, and was once briefly married to Colin Farrell. But today we’re talking music.

“I have been been playing music since I could sit at the piano, bashing the keys and making up stories,” says Millie, adding that she’s been taking music a lot more seriously over the past couple of years. She isn’t signed to a record label yet, but as you might expect she is currently “meeting with people”.

So how did the Virgin Media ad come about? “I wrote a piece of music for an ad for Orange in France,” she says. “It was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. He showed me the Virgin ad and asked me if I had any songs that might work, so I adapted a song I had written called Beasts.”

It’s an intriguing song – what is it about? “There isn’t a story as such,” says Millie. “It’s about the past, and the beasts and monsters we all have to lay down and let go of. I was in Highgate Cemetery and I saw a gravestone which said something to do with ‘sleeping beasts’ and thought it was beautiful.”

Now that she has joined the many fantastic artists in the TV Ad Music ranks, does she have any favourite tracks from TV ads? “I loved the Jose Gonzalez track on the Sony ad,” she says, “and a Little Annie track on a [non UK TV] Levi’s ad… What else? The Regina Spektor song Us is one of my favourites, and was used beautifully on an ad for Sky Sports.”

Beasts is released as a download via Amazon and iTunes today (17 August). If the number of enquiries we’re received about the song are anything to go by it should do rather well. Thanks to Millie/Amelia for taking the time to talk to us! You can download Beasts from Amazon or iTunes using the links below.

Watch the ad here…

Virgin Media 2 Months Free
www.virginmedia.com 2 months free Virgin Media TV & Broadband, plus free delivery online.

More From This Advertiser:

Virgin Holidays – Rockstar Service

Virgin Media TV – Backlot

Virgin Media – Broadband Powerful Stuff

Virgin Media – Fantastic Journey Smartphone

As is traditional here at TV Ad Music, here’s our regular Summer Special highlighting the top ten most requested, most viewed and most downloaded ads from January to June 2009. Click on the titles to watch the ads and to get more info. In reverse order:

10. VISA – FLOW BETTER
Music: DON THOMAS – COME ON TRAIN (IAN PARTON REMIX)

This ad features a series of stunning moves by street performer Bill “Crutch” Shannon. The soundtrack is a remix of a rare Northern Soul track. You can download the remix of Come On Train from Amazon and iTunes.

9. VODAFONE – RULE THE WORLD
Music: DIONNE WARWICK / TONY BENNETT / JAMES BROWN / TOM JONES – IF I RULED THE WORLD

There are three different Vodafone ads this summer featuring four versions of If I Ruled The World. The first ad features a daydreaming bloke behind a counter in a garage, and uses a version of the song by James Brown. The second, with a cap-wearing, lip-pierced Asian lad, uses Tom Jones. The third, featuring a sunbathing holidaymaker and her at-home boyfriend seems to have been the most popular. This one features a “mash-up” of two versions of If I Ruled The World, one by Dionne Warwick, and one by Tony Bennett. It is not a duet, and if you listen closely you can hear the “joins”. You can download Dionne’s version from Amazon or iTunes, or download Tony’s version from iTunes.

8. NATIONAL LOTTERY – THINK LOTTO
Music: BARRY LOUIS POLISAR – ALL I WANT IS YOU

This ad has been around for a few months – it was in our best of 2008 round-up – but remains very popular. It’s snowing, but that doesn’t stop a happy couple (one of whom is definitely NOT Noah Wyle from ER!) taking off their clothes and running into the freezing sea. The jolly tune was previously featured in the movie Juno. You can download All I Want Is You from Amazon or iTunes, and also get the Juno soundtrack CD from Amazon.

7. KELLOGG’S SPECIAL K – SHAPE UP FOR SUMMER
Music: LAURA IZIBOR – SHINE

Laura Izibor is an Irish R&B singer. Shine can be downloaded from Amazon or iTunes, and her CD is also available from Amazon.

6. LYNX BULLET – POCKET PULLING POWER
Music: THE SEEDS – CAN’T SEEM TO MAKE YOU MINE

Lank-haired slacker attracts inappropriately dressed hotties in this latest slice of fantasy from Lynx. The Seeds were a 60s LA garage rock band, and Can’t Seem To Make You Mine was their debut single, from 1965. You can download Can’t Seem To Make You Mine from Amazon or iTunes, and get the Best of The Seeds on CD from Amazon.

5. LG ARENA KM900 – DANCING BABY
Music: JAY KID – BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE

Want to create a popular ad? Get yourself a dancing baby. Simple, daft, cute, and memorable. The track is Jay Kid’s version of the Jackson 5 classic. Get the download from Amazon or iTunes, or get the CD from Amazon.

4. SONY BRAVIA – IN MOTION WITH KAKA
Music: KASABIAN – UNDERDOG

The world’s second most expensive footballer advertises Sony TVs, with music from Leicester indie noise-makers Kasabian. You can download Underdog from Amazon or iTunes, and also get the full Kasabian CD, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, from Amazon.

3. FORD KA – GO FIND IT / LOOK DEEPER TO DISCOVER MORE
Music: THE TEASE FEAT MEGAN WYLER – I’M NOT INVISIBLE

Did you spot all 80 Ford Kas in this ad? The song is another track from the Soundtree production house. It will be released very soon…

2. CADBURY’S DAIRY MILK – EYEBROW DANCE
Music: FREESTYLE – DON’T STOP THE ROCK

Following the gorilla playing drums and the airport trucks race, Cadbury’s and ad agency Fallon brought us another great ad, this time showing two kids making their eyebrows dance. The track used in the ad is Don’t Stop The Rock by Freestyle, which is an old electro track from around 1986. You can download Don’t Stop The Rock from Amazon or iTunes.

1. TOYOTA – TODAY TOMORROW
Music: THE FREE DESIGN – LOVE YOU

This eyecatching ad sees four different Toyota designs unveiled via a neat cover-lifting effect, resulting in a much more subtle transformations than Citroen’s robots. The memorable acapella track is from influential 60s New York band The Free Design. Love You has also been also used in a Norwegian chocolate commercial. You can download Love You from Amazon or iTunes, and get the Best of The Free Design CD from Amazon.

See our best of 2008 round-up and other best of features.